Japan battles to stave off possible nuclear meltdown

Cooler King

A file picture of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant reactor No 7, in Niigata prefecture, Japan, that was damaged in the quake. Photograph: Franck Robichon/EPA
Workers are battling to stave off a possible nuclear meltdown at a plant in north-eastern Japan as the country struggles with the aftermath of Friday's enormous earthquake and tsunami.
Japanese media said officials had detected caesium, one of the elements released when overheating causes core damage, around the reactor at Fukushima No 1 plant in Futuba, 150 miles (240km) north of Tokyo.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said it did not believe a meltdown was under way, but Ryohei Shiomi, an official with Japan's nuclear safety commission, said that it was possible.
Experts and authorities played down the dangers of a Chernobyl-style disaster, saying they believed a partial meltdown was controllable. The government urged people to remain calm.
Officials had earlier evacuated 20,000 residents living within 6 miles of the plant on the orders of the prime minister, Naoto Kan, who had inspected it via helicopter. Experts told Associated Press that the risk area was 4 miles.Japan battles to stave off possible nuclear meltdown | World news | guardian.co.uk

Cooler King

It is still possible a meltdown could occur ! More then one reactor has been damaged . The Japanese are playing down the damage so as not to cause panick .
It is still very unclear as to the actual state of the situation at the reactors .